Hide and Seek
by rhapsody-of-dreams
Summary: From his birth to the day he met his dear friend. Rated T just in case.


**A/N: A tale of Mystogan's past that never was in the original anime. My second fanfic; forgive me for OOC-ness if there are any and awkwardly-written fighting scenes. Warning: Plenty of fluff, and this is not Pantherlily X Mystogan! Just a simple father-son relationship. The song entitled '_Hide and Seek'_ is owned by Imogen Heap. Characters of Fairy Tail belong to Mashima Hiro!**

_Where were we?_

The pain was too much. Red, fresh blood spilled and tainted the linens and covers of white. She screamed, moaned, and cried. Sweat studded her temple. Her eyes were sore and swollen. She gripped the sheets, tightly so that her knuckles turned white.

Hurry up. I can't endure much more. She pleaded, her energy depleting as was her life.

_What the hell is going on?_

"Please bear a little longer, your majesty! It's nearly out!" The voices of the medics and nurses slowly faded, her breathing growing heavier.

Is this punishment? Is this torture? Why? She wondered. _Why?_

_The dust has only just begun to fall_

Wails pierced the silence in the palace. The maids and servants were excited, the guards were anxious. The king...was patient.

_Crop circles in the carpet; sinking, feeling_

"Congratulations, your highness! It's a boy! A baby boy!" they exclaimed, overjoyed. She was a horrible mess; locks of sea-blue hair spread untidily over her face, beads of sweat trickled down her fair cheeks and her hand so weak that it was shuddering.

Still, before she departed, she wanted to hold him. Her baby. Her _prince. _And she did. His skin was like silk; her fingers brushed smoothly against his eyes, then nose, lastly followed by his tiny frail lips.

"Goodbye, my Jellal. Mummy loves you." She closed her eyes.

_Spin me round again and rub my eyes _

"Your majesty?" The medic inspected closer. She was serenely asleep. Her blue-haired child started to cry.

_This can't be happening_

"My king, her majesty has..."the king raised a hand before the completion of the sentence. He knew beforehand. And he was ready.

_When busy streets, a mess of people would stop to hold their heads heavy_

Jellal never knew his mother. He only could imagine her like how the maids described: silky cerulean hair, fair skin and a smile warm as the first rays of daylight. He was a mirrored image of her they often say.

_Hide and seek_

It was the third anniversary of his mother's departure. He remembered that day. It was pouring. Water dripped from the tips of his hair, seeping into the sleeves of his silk jacket dyed in ebony. Some of his mother's loyal maids were weeping quietly. His father stood by him.

He wasn't crying. He stared ahead, a stone-cold glare embedded on his face.

_Trains and sewing machines_

_All those years they were here first_

Her old wedding dress hung in the mahogany closet; its laces and embroidery untouched by the waves of time. Books and scrolls piled orderly on a lonely study desk, dust resting on their frayed edges.

The room brimmed with images and memories of her. Perhaps, that's why, Jellal thought, her room was locked up.

_Oily marks appear on walls_

_Where pleasure moments hung before the takeover_

Jellal ran. His little feet carried him into the forest, far from his home, far from those masked strangers armed with swords and knives.

_The sweeping insensitivity of this still life_

The forest is still, its inhabitants eyeing him with pity and despair. Dead twigs and withered leaves crunched under his footsteps.

_Must run! Don't stop! Run! Run!_

His leg stumbled on a small stone. His head landed on a _big _rock. Red was everywhere. Everything was but a blur. The masked men were black figures in a distance, nearing him at every minute.

_Goodbye, father. Goodbye, mother._

_**Hide and seek.**_

_Blood and tears_

_They were here first_

His daily outings had match made him with a number of bizarre occurrences and fascinating miracles. This one though, was the oddest he had come upon. Soaring in the sky gave him a view of five men, dressed shabbily and a helpless, unconscious boy, bleeding profusely from the head.

He is angered. _How cruel._ He fumed._ He is just a child!_

Their end was untold, but not a word of that fateful day was ever breathed when the assassins fled, cuts and bruises marked on their limbs.

_Mm, what'd you say,_

_Mm, you only meant well_

Gently and carefully, a swathe of white cloth circled the blue-haired boy's skull. Desperate gasps escaped his lips. The Exceed was concerned; he was just a child, he might not make it with such a wound.

_What'd you say,_

_That's all for the best_

Pantherlily recognized the child. He was the son to the kingdom's king, rightful heir to the throne, and Prince of the entire of Edolas.

_Assasins. _He began to realize_. Someone sent them to execute the boy. Who?_

Bringing him back to the Edolas capital at the moment was unwise. He still needed rest and much recovery.

For now, young prince, bear with me.

_What'd you say,_

_That's just what we need._

The herbs and medicine worked in miraculous yet slow ways. The wounds healed progressively while the boy still lied comatose. He stayed by the boy' side always, and watched him dreamed and breathed.

The nighmares visited frequently. The prince would tossed and turned, then moaned and cried, then softly, longingly whimpered _mummy. _Pantherlily was aware of her death and wondered if His Majesty had anything to do with it.

_Ransom notes kept falling out your mouth,_

_Mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cut outs_

"Lily, you know better that to bring a human to Extalia!"

"It's against the most sacred of all our laws, Lily! You are the Head of the Royal Guards, why did you commit such a disgraceful act?"

"You are hereby banished from Extalia! We give you two days to allow that _human_ to recover fully before you begin your journey."

Those were the elders' words; their instructions, orders and warnings were the **law**. And it was impossible to evade them.

He was exiled for rescuing a life.

_Speak no lies, no, I don't believe you_

_You don't care a bit_

"It's going to be a long day, Prince Jellal," Pantherlily said as he engulfed the boy's small frame in a tattered cloak.

His words elicited no response.

"Prince Jellal?" Pantherlily shifted his vision to the young prince.

_You don't care a bit,_

_You don't care a bit, _

_You don't care a bit,_

Dust and debris scattered in the desert wind; a stream of sandy dots in the horizon. He spotted a vague outline of the palace. _His _palace.

"I'm coming, Father," his eyes lost in the endless blue above, his gaze soaring for a dream higher than the heavens, his hope to return to a place nonetheless of his origins.

Edolas.

**_Hide and seek._**

**Author's note: I'm not sure whether this is good enough to be continued. What with all my homework and upcoming exams, it'll be difficult enough to add more chapters but I'll try my best! Feel free to message me to contribute your original ideas on how to expand this story! Thanks for reading!**


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